Esk Valley Great Dirt Seabed Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2020

Description

• French oak
• White peach
• Grilled nuts
• Full-bodied & creamy

This is an full bodied and creamy textured chardonnay which displays complex flavours of white peach, grilled nuts and grapefruit with a long smokey finish. Made with a hands off approach it is a complex and ageworthy wine which showcases the land in which it is grown. Suitable for plant based diets. Ideal drinking 2021 - 2029.

This single vineyard wine is sourced from Brian and Leslie Howard’s Bay View vineyard. Situated at the western edge of Bay View Village, the soils here reflect their maritime origin. Prior to the 1931 Napier earthquake this was a tidal estuary where the Esk River met the Ahuriri inner harbour, the land now drained still retains remants of its past with seashell deposits interspersed throughout the maritime clays. Planted in 1998 the vineyard is dry farmed and intensively managed to produce fruit of the highest quality.

The fruit was handpicked and chilled overnight before being loaded as whole clusters into the press and run directly to barrel for fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Once dry a portion was allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation to lower acidity and add complexity to the finished wine. The wine then underwent extended barrel ageing with occasional lee’s stirring before blending and bottling without finings in September 2021.

Food Pairing: Enjoy with white meat dishes including roast chicken and pork or rich seafood dishes especially crayfish.